As we start 2026, it’s value reflecting on the exceptional progress we made with k0s as a undertaking and as a neighborhood throughout 2025. Final 12 months introduced thrilling developments, adoption, and stronger neighborhood engagement.
k0s is an open-source, single-binary Kubernetes distribution designed to be light-weight, easy to deploy, and extremely versatile. The undertaking goals to scale back the complexity of organising and managing Kubernetes clusters.
This 2025 evaluation highlights the important thing milestones for k0s final 12 months and paints an image of the momentum carrying us into 2026.
Main options and releases
Final 12 months, the k0s undertaking continued to ship enhancements centered on stability, extensibility, and multi‑setting operations..
Key enhancements included:
The k0s undertaking had a complete of 39 secure releases accomplished in whole. Kubernetes 1.34 is supported now; whereas Kubernetes 1.31 & 1.30 are already finish of life.
- Operational and environmental flexibility
Enhanced options tailor-made for edge use instances, bettering useful resource effectivity and resilience in constrained environments. Usability enhancements in set up, upgrades, and automation to decrease the barrier for adoption whereas enabling extra versatile deployment profiles for various workloads. - Safety and governance focus
The k0s neighborhood has invested in safety hardening, coverage interoperability, and observability integrations to help end-users.
k0s latest and upcoming highlights
- Dynamic management airplane load balancer
A built-in management airplane load balancer now simplifies HA setups. It helps each IPVS and user-space backends for versatile environments. - –kubelet-root-dir flag
This lets customers override default kubelet information paths (/var/lib/kubelet), bettering compatibility with non-standard or constrained environments. - nftables help (GA in v1.33)
Trendy firewall help with nftables is now secure, changing iptables as default on most trendy Linux distros. - Declarative Etcd member administration
It allows GitOps-style configuration of etcd cluster membership — safer scaling and restoration workflows. - OCI registry-based extensions
This helps deploying Helm charts and different extensions from OCI-compliant registries, standardizing distribution and updates. - Home windows node help (Alpha in v1.34)
Early help for Home windows staff is now accessible, with primary performance and room for neighborhood contribution. - RISC-V structure help
k0s may be constructed for RISC-V platforms. Whereas binaries aren’t formally launched but, the groundwork is there, pending infra testing.
These enhancements have helped k0s ship manufacturing‑prepared efficiency throughout numerous infrastructures whereas preserving the simplicity that defines the undertaking.
k0s becoming a member of the CNCF sandbox
In early 2025, k0s achieved a significant milestone by being accepted into the CNCF Sandbox program.
Being a part of this program positions k0s to speed up its improvement by means of broader neighborhood engagement and suggestions, enabling deeper interoperability and innovation.
Becoming a member of the CNCF Sandbox underscores the undertaking’s dedication to open governance and neighborhood‑pushed innovation, and opens doorways for nearer collaboration with different CNCF initiatives.
k0s CNCF incubation software
k0s has formally submitted its CNCF incubation software, marking a key step towards broader neighborhood governance and ecosystem alignment throughout the CNCF. This transfer displays the undertaking’s maturity, rising adoption, and dedication to open collaboration, inviting elevated contributions and tighter integrations.
Neighborhood development and adoption
On the coronary heart of any open supply undertaking is its neighborhood. In 2025, the k0s neighborhood noticed exceptional development:
- Elevated adoption and contributor enlargement
Organizations throughout industries started utilizing k0s as a foundational layer for Kubernetes operations from startups to giant enterprises.Contributions in code, documentation, tooling, and testing accelerated, leading to a broader set of maintainers and contributors collaborating in shaping the undertaking.
- Regular neighborhood calls
The k0s undertaking has maintained common neighborhood calls, providing a clear house for dialogue, updates, and roadmap alignment. - Rising neighborhood exercise
Contributor engagement continues to rise. Extra builders are becoming a member of discussions, submitting PRs, reporting points, and collaborating on options. - Neighborhood-driven public roadmap
The k0s roadmap is formed by neighborhood enter. Function requests, situation prioritization, and planning are more and more community-led, guaranteeing that improvement stays aligned with actual person wants.
Occasions and neighborhood actions
Neighborhood engagement was a spotlight this 12 months:
- k0s featured prominently in cloud‑native occasions, meetups, and neighborhood discussions.
- Native meetups, coaching periods, and digital occasions helped decrease the barrier to entry and introduced practitioners collectively round shared challenges.
After turning into a Sandbox undertaking, k0s joined KubeCon India and KubeCon North America with a undertaking lightning speak, contribfest session and a k0s sales space.
Trying forward: What’s on the horizon for 2026
This 12 months is about to convey main improvements in each stability and adaptability because the k0s undertaking continues to evolve as a contemporary Kubernetes distribution. Right here’s what’s on the horizon:
k0s v1.35 launch (Goal: Feb 2026)
The upcoming v1.35 launch is concentrated on bettering the management airplane expertise, operational observability, and base compatibility.
Upstream alignment
k0s stays tightly aligned with upstream Kubernetes releases. As Kubernetes introduces new APIs, container runtimes, and community stack modifications, k0s ensures well timed help and testing for seamless adoption.
Deeper neighborhood collaboration
The workforce plans to work extra intently with the neighborhood throughout 2026 significantly round options, launch planning, testing, and supporting new environments.
Assist for containerd 2.x
With containerd 2.x now on the horizon, k0s will guarantee compatibility and easy migration paths. That is important for long-term runtime stability and ecosystem interoperability.
Enhanced operational capabilities
A number of key operational enhancements are in improvement:
- Etcd administration enhancements: Extra strong lifecycle controls and higher restoration workflows.
- Sleek management airplane node termination: Lowering disruption throughout deliberate node shutdowns or scaling occasions.
Clear roadmap
A public roadmap on GitHub helps customers and contributors keep aligned with priorities, milestones, and open discussions. It’s a key a part of making k0s extra community-driven and predictable.
Gratitude and invitation
We’re enthusiastic about what’s forward and invite you to proceed contributing, collaborating, and constructing with k0s in 2026.
Right here’s to a good stronger, extra vibrant ecosystem within the 12 months forward.
k0s neighborhood
The k0s neighborhood discussions will begin on the Kubernetes Slack Workspace. Be a part of the #k0s-users & #k0s-dev channels to ask your questions, share your person tales and talk about your contributions with the maintainers.
To get an invitation please fill out the invitation type. You can even evaluation the assembly notes for the neighborhood workplace hours.
